Giacomo Scarpelli Quick Links

The story surrounding the making of The Postman is almost as interesting as the film itself. English/Austrian Michael Radford was hand-picked by the star of the picture, Italian Massimo Troisi, to direct the dramatization of a Chilean novel about the story of Pablo Neruda (Phillippe Noiret), a Chilean poet exiled to an Italian island, where he befriends a local fisherman-cum-letter carrier.

Radford accepted the assignment, and Troisi assumed the title role of Mario, a simple Everyman whom Neruda slowly cultivates from tongue-tied wallflower to smooth Romeo. With Neruda's advice and introduction to poetry, Mario is able to overcome his awkwardness and enchant the woman of his dreams, the darkly beautiful Beatrice (Maria Grazia Cucinotta), and subsequently he convinces her to marry him. His transformation complete, Mario finds inside himself the romanticism and courage that we all wish for.